Caitlin Kelly.

The name behind the post that ended one of the longest stretches of time on OS without a dustup to create, (what else?) a dustup.  In case you were solving world hunger, away from OS over the weekend, living your life and/or pretended not to notice, we the people of OS managed to exhibit some of the best of our worst behavior. 

Some decided to haul out the pitchforks and bring flaming torches (in the form of words, accusations and some really awful name-calling) and dress it up like poop as they delivered it to Caitlin Kelly’s blog step.  Talk about putting someone in the crosshairs.  Isn’t that what "we the people" are so outraged by as far as Sarah Palin’s targeting of individuals? 

We have the horrible events of Tucson to remind us.

That Caitlin's post stirred up a big dose of controversy and judgment from all sides is only the beginning.  Before you think for a minute I am defending her post (I’m not; but I fully defend her right to freedom of speech and opinion as I do yours and yours and yours), I want to state a couple of facts as well as opinions.  It’s not the usual navel gazing or gushy writing that begs for gushy comments.  And yes, I am fully aware by doing so, that I am also having a little fun here at Caitlin’s expense, as many others believed they were when the offshoot posts sprang up. 

But I’m completely serious.

I am in no way contributing to the pileup and pile on that occurred after her post caught fire.  I am looking to reason and for reasonability.

I'm a former newspaper columnist and restaurant critic.  While I did not write for anything as prestigious as the New York Times, I understand the need for objectivity and an ability to set emotion aside when it comes to journalism.  That she may or may not think of me as a "colleague" is immaterial.  That I have observed a "coolness" to her writing comes from this understanding.  But blogging is different than journalism (in my opinion) and that coolness may in fact be what got Caitlin into some hot water. 

The moment I read her post (within minutes of it getting published), I cringed and thought to myself, “Oh, no.  This is not going to go over well in this community.”  One of the most important keys to a writer’s success is to know your audience.  Since I am not Caitlin, I can only surmise that either she does not know the OS audience or perhaps she simply doesn’t care. 

We the people have the right to disagree.  How we go about doing it never ceases to amaze me.  I posted my comment and I stand behind it.  I didn't attack her personally and thought many of her points were excellent.

But let me be perfectly clear.  I personally disliked the tone and as some stated, found it to be self-promoting and condescending.  But unlike many who were outraged by her opinion, I didn’t take it as a personal attack on me, or my writing (or on any other OS member either).  My comment reflected my ability to be objective about the content and not look at it as an opportunity to attack her.

My purpose of or reason for blogging is probably very different than Caitlin's.  I accept that we all have our own and will defend anyone’s right to utilize a blog however he or she chooses.  I may not like it, but if that’s the case, I can click elsewhere without saying a word.  Silence often speaks louder.

About midway through reading, I came across a typo in the post.  I knew that if I caught it, someone else might too.  I also knew that someone who was utterly offended by the tone and content of the post might very well decide to take her to task and rake her over the coals because of it and point out the error in the comment thread.  I sensed the ensuing onslaught before it even happened.

So I PMed Caitlin and informed her of the typo.  She quickly corrected it and graciously wrote back to thank me.  I went on with my day.  Later on in the morning, I went back to her post and noticed that it had raised a lot of hackles and the inevitable slow motion car wreck was unfolding.  That familiar discomfort in my gut began as I noticed many people who I consider online friends exercising their right to free speech without exercising much caution.  I couldn't witness it any longer.

I have been the recipient of one of these pileups and have a boatload of comments to prove it. We the people can learn much more about each other on OS from reading comments than we can often glean from edited writing in the form of posts.  The now defunct tomreedtoon comes to mind. He found great pleasure in being negative and mean, as if he had no other choice.  We all do.  When he crossed the line by becoming threatening, he violated more than the terms of service and his account was deleted.  His "target"?  Caitlin Kelly.  You can thank her for taking it seriously enough to get him off this site.  If you were never the victim of any of his vitriol, consider yourself lucky.

In the heat of passion, anger or heated debate, people show their true colors.  You can’t edit or erase your own comments.  Even after the post has died and the flames have subsided, those arrows are a permanent record and reflection of who we the people ultimately are.  They are often cruel and ugly reminders. We all leave footprints.

For those of you who have been around OS for at least a year, you might remember a member named Will Someone Feed the Cat.  She was smart, snarky funny, clever and witty.  She was a great writer and a very generous reader who compiled a weekly list of posts that were bestowed with Tiara Picks.  These were sometimes more coveted than EPs.  She was a beloved member of this community and is missed by many, including me.

What many people perhaps won’t recall or didn’t know, is that when she first arrived on the scene, her initial post was downright caustic and mean spirited.  She came into OS wearing boxing gloves and single handedly attacked members by name for poor spelling and grammar and basically told some of them that their writing sucked.  She didn’t know her audience and she didn’t endear herself in any way.  That came later. 

For what it’s worth, the perception of Will Someone Feed the Cat or Caitlin Kelly or of anyone else for that matter (including me) is not something that anybody can control.  What we can control is how we the people react to them.   I’ve been around the block and on OS long enough to know that there are people who, for one reason or another are lightning rods.  They stir emotions, shake the foundation of our beliefs or raise our ire just by the tone of their words.  What credence we give them or those feelings and how we respond is entirely up to us.

The proof of how that was done in the case of Caitlin’s post rests in the comment thread.  I submit that for whatever real or perceived crime she allegedly committed with her tone and her opinion (to which she is fully entitled to have both), there were equal crimes committed in the name of vilification.  There were plenty of accomplices who sought to attack her personally and professionally and in some cases, used the lowest form of name calling and left it as evidence.  As often is the case, some of the perpetrators returned to the scene of the crime.   

If you can take your personal feelings out of the equation for a moment and read the comment thread alone, I wonder how any one of you would feel about having those same words that appeared there directed at you, as a person and not just as a writer.

Take a moment and let that settle in. 

The comment thread offers more than enough evidence to prove that we the people of OS need to consider the reasons we justify such behavior in our responses where civility might better serve us all. 

In the end, the tone from both sides may in fact not be defensible but the right to free speech or to remain silent does. Whether it be by gun or with a choice of words, they are both weapons that can have devastating effects when they are aimed at individuals.

I've seen it happen here more than once.  Some of them simply disappeared or  were run out of Open Salon because of words that repeatedly stabbed them.  

We are all moving targets.

I rest my case.